Yummy, crispy, and slightly sweet plantains topped with a chicken avocado salsa on top? That’s seriously delicious. I created this recipe because I love main dishes that get you two fruits and veggies and your protein all in one bite. The unforeseen awesomeness of this dish, though, is that is can also work as well for an appetizer as it does for a side dish.

I bought a nut milk bag months ago with the vision of making my own pecan milk. And yes, I still giggle at the phrase “nut milk bag”. Well, I finally made some pecan milk, but I didn’t know what to do with all those leftover pecan pieces that had been drained of their essence. On a whim, I put together this paleo pecan and peach crumble recipe. It’s actually delicious.

Over the last few months I’ve been reading the Game of Thrones books. Well, I’ve been listening to them via Audible e-books. I’ve never gotten such a hankering for ale and beef stew with barley. Obviously barley isn’t an option on the paleo diet, but that doesn’t mean you can’t make a delicious paleo beef stew that’s reminiscent of what all the Stark clan ate on their journeys. The key is simplicity and letting the vegetables bring the flavor.

During the Kentucky Derby this year, I got on a bourbon kick after making some mint juleps. That meant I traveled to my nearest liquor store (that happened to be going out of business) and bought a bunch of the good stuff. And because I didn’t want to become an alcoholic by drinking it all, I started experimenting with using it in cooking. Enter the chicken meatballs.

I wasn’t sure what to call this since it in no way looks like a tamale, but it tastes like on in all the best ways. So paleo shredded pork tamale seemed like the closes description for the dish. I tried this paleo experiment on a whim when I ran across corn husks in the supermarket. I know corn isn’t paleo, but could you use cornhusks for flavor?

Come to find out, there are so many foods in Latin America that don’t even taste remotely like Mexican food. (Who’d have thought?) One of my recent favorites is something called bistec encebollado (but we’ll call it Puerto Rican steaks for our purposes).

As much as I’ve come to embrace the paleo diet and lifestyle, there are still a few things I miss a bunch. Chips is one of those. I cheat 50% of the time when there are chips around. Fortunately, these baked plantain chips satisfy the urge to snack but still let me stick with paleo (and avoid that nasty feeling when I cheat).

I’m a huge fan of fire. In fact, when we first moved to Guatemala—before I even knew Spanish—I played with the neighborhood kids. The one thing we knew how to do was to light things on fire. I didn’t even know the Spanish word for “matches”…but I got by. Ya, fire has been a big part of my life. So any chance I get to light a fire or grill something, I take it. This roasted red pepper sauce is the perfect opportunity.

I remember the day I learned bacon wasn’t just for breakfast. It might have just been the second happiest day of my life—rivaling only when I got to marry my beautiful wife. It was bacon wrapped chicken, in pinwheel form. Absolutely delicious. This recipe pays homage to that discovery.

Since marrying an Argentine girl, I’ve come to love beef. Cows are pretty much a required dietary item in Argentina. But I also realize red meat isn’t the finest thing to consume in mass quantities. That’s why I made this paleo chicken chili recipe—to still get the deliciousness of the beefy meal, without the heaviness of the red meat.